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"Mbappe has been more committed than Messi" | PSG's identity crisis

It's unlikely that Kylian Mbappe will remain at Paris St Germain at the end of the season, but he...



It's unlikely that Kylian Mbappe will remain at Paris St Germain at the end of the season, but he has acted more mature than Lionel Messi this season, according to French football writer Jonathan Johnson. 

PSG were hammered out the door at the weekend by Monaco, as the Paris fans turned on their own players, even the once invincible Lionel Messi.

Despite this, PSG are still top of Ligue One and will likely go on to win the league under Mauricio Pochettino. But that is not enough at this club.

The Champions League might be the minimum expectation for the club's hierarchy, but a little bit of professionalism seems to be what the fans are looking for from the star-studded outfit.

Let's be honest, it's not as if this comes as a surprise to most people. Lionel Messi (34), Neymar (Neymar), Sergio Ramos (35) and Mauro Icardi, to name just a few, are hardly going to give you the workrate needed at the highest level of the game.

Surprisingly though, the player who has probably the most reason to down tools - Kylian Mbappe - has been the one shining spark in the PSG side, according to French football writer Jonathan Johnson, who says he is the talisman of a team in desperate need of identity.

"The big issue that PSG have, or have had since Messi joined is identity. PSG don't have a clear identity.", Johnson told Off The Ball. 

"Part of that is on Pochettino, part of that is on the players."

"Messi's arrival has coincided with the arrival of Kylian Mbappe as the absolutely, undisputed talisman of this PSG side."

"Mbappe is so far ahead of everyone, not just in terms of his contribution on the pitch, also the way that he has conducted himself professionally in the face of what has been a tricky period."

"The guy who may well walk away for nothing at the end of the season has been far more committed than the guys like Neymar, like Messi."

"Basically all the dreams they [the fans] were sold at the beginning of the season after that glittering transfer window, have been completely ridiculed."

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